Systems for the transportation of persons and/or goods are known as public or individual transport means such as railways, automobiles, aircraft, lift installations, cable ways, escalators, etc. In the following, a transport means in the preferred form of a lift installation is discussed. The persons and/or goods to be conveyed are termed “user”.
Systems for access control of persons and/or goods are equally known. For example, the access of persons to a location may be controlled by mechanical keys, which fit in a corresponding mechanical lock, or by identification codes which are recognised and checked by a recognition device, etc. In such an example, access means such as doors are actuated.
EP 0 699 617 is considered the closest state of the art with regard to the present invention. This document discloses a contactless drive control of a lift installation utilizing identification codes. An identification transmitter transmits by radio an identification code to a recognition device. The recognition device arranged at a story terminal recognizes the identification code and passes on details with regard to the recognised identification code as an identification signal to a processing unit. It is also possible to input an identification code by way of a manual input means of the story terminal. Details with respect to the recognized identification code are similarly passed on as an identification signal to the processing unit. The processing unit is a separate computer unit with a special housing for processor and data memory, as well as manual input means and visual output means. The processor of the processing unit associates with the identification signal a predefined destination story, which is stored in the data memory of the user. The processing unit transmits details with respect to the destination story to a lift control, which evaluates details with respect to the boarding story and destination story and transmits appropriate control signals to a drive of a lift cage in order to transport the user automatically from the boarding story to the destination story.
Such a lift installation, controlled by identification codes, with a story terminal and processing unit, is primarily suitable for large buildings with a large number of users to be transported and with several lifts arranged in parallel beside one another. In accordance with the evaluation performed by the processing unit, the lift most favourable for transporting is displayed to the user by way of a display.
This system allows simple, practical, economic and reliable access control relative to the building. For example, an identification transmitter which has become lost can be reconfigured or a further identification code can be assigned to a user without—as usual in traditional systems for access control—mechanical keys/locks having to be changed.
It has now proved disadvantageous that such a lift installation with story terminals and a processing unit is relatively costly to acquire.
In addition, maintenance of this system has proved relatively expensive. By the term “maintenance” there is subsumed, in particular, a change in the destination story, which is stored in the processing unit, and the configuration of the identification transmitter. These actions are undertaken at the processing unit. For this purpose, an operator has to go to the processing unit and start and operate a special computer program by way of the manual input means and the visual output means. It is disadvantageous that the operation of the computer program by way of the manual input means and the visual output means has to be learned and accepted by the operator.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a system for transporting or controlling the access of persons or goods with a lift installation which is economical to acquire and simple and uncomplicated to maintain. Further objects of the invention are to provide a method, device and computer program product for maintenance of this system. This system, method, device and computer program is to be compatible with proven standards of machine construction and communications technology. In addition, the system is to be capable of simple and economic retrofitting in existing buildings.